The U.S. reaches a grim milestone: More than 1,000 deaths linked to the virus.
More than 1,000 deaths in the United States have now been linked to the coronavirus, a New York Times database shows.
The deaths have been most heavily concentrated in New York, which had announced that 385 people had died as of Thursday morning. But there were signs of mounting trouble elsewhere: Louisiana is experiencing the fastest growth in new cases in the world, according to one study.
Gov. John Bel Edwards said that the current trajectory of case growth in Louisiana was similar to Spain and Italy.
The situation in and around New Orleans is particularly acute, with the city reporting 827 confirmed cases as of Wednesday night, more than the total number of cases in all except 15 states. Hospitals are overwhelmed, and critical safety gear is running low.
Orleans Parish, which shares its borders with the city of New Orleans, has suffered the highest number of deaths per capita of any county in the nation. Of the parish’s 37 deaths — nearly three times the death toll in Los Angeles County — 11 are from a single retirement home, where dozens more residents are infected.
Cases of the virus have been found in all 50 states, plus Washington, D.C., and three U.S. territories, the Times database shows. California had reported more than 3,000 cases, and 67 deaths; Washington State had more than 2,500 cases and 130 deaths, including 37 connected to a single nursing home.
The crisis has sowed divisions among states competing for vital resources and communities looking to protect their residents.
People fleeing New York City have been greeted with suspicion by residents of the beach communities and villages where many have sought refuge. Florida now requires a 14-day quarantine of anyone who has arrived from the New York region over the past three weeks.
In Alaska, even more stringent measures were introduced, requiring everyone arriving in the state — whether residents or visitors — to self-quarantine for 14 days.
There were also complex issues within states. In Mississippi, Gov. Tate Reeves signed an executive order Tuesday defining the essential businesses that should be allowed to stay open with some limitations during the coronavirus shutdown — a list that was more permissive than what some localities were planning. He was expected to issue a supplemental notice on Thursday saying that the order was not meant to interfere with decisions made by local governments.
Reference: NY Times
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